The White Serpent
by sarin555
Summary: Asta has a great life ahead of him, but such destiny ought to catch the attention of powerful beings. When one of such being come for him and the boy had no choice but to accept the proposal; become its prophet in this new world or die. Still, Asta only considers this a minor setback; he can be both Magic Emperor and the Prophet of Sotek. Alternate Grimoire/Blessing of Sotek
1. Choosing the Prophet

**A/N: I just got into Black Clover, and like MHA it hooks me in… **_**hard**_**! So I feel like I would do it a service by writing about it. Since I have been pent up to do a story about Lizardmen as well, I decide to give Asta a blessing from a certain serpent god who will replace his main grimoire.**

* * *

**The White Serpent**

Humanity had once came close to being eradicated by the demons.

But one mage rose up to save mankind.

He became a legend and the first bearer of the title the Magic Emperor.

Thereafter, generations of Magic Emperor came forward and safeguarded the Clover Kingdom and human.

Yet now, all of that was about to change.

It was a quiet day in the village of Hage. While the village was located on the Forsaken Region, territory reserved for those with low magical power and peasant, the people of this village could count some fortune for being born here because of the historical site close to the village; a giant skull of the three-eyed demon, long slain by the First Magic Emperor.

With the demon cranium overlooking them, the village received a little bit more attention from the kingdom guard patrols and could enjoy a peaceful daily life. Yet this was not to last.

A god slithered into this new world. This place would be its emerge site; this would be a place where it found its chosen, its herald, its prophet.

At the village orphanage-church, it was as lively as ever.

"Hey, Yuno! Fight me!" A boy, no older than nine with white hair and green eyes, yelled.

"No, that's a waste of time, Asta," a boy of the same age with black hair and amber eyes replied.

The white-haired boy, Asta, however, did not relent and jumped forward to try to tackle his 'rival', only for that said rival to dodge out of the way with ease. Unfortunately for Asta, he was being stalked from the grasses below.

Asta's face hit the ground hard and a blue-haired nun walked closer to see if he was alright.

"Please stop, Asta, you're hurting yourself," Sister Lily begged as she let one of the children she held in her arm down.

The boy lifted his face up and looked at the sister with a smile, "Don't worry! I will win this time for sure!"

Lily just sighed before returning the smile, but her expression quickly turned to one of horror as she saw something slithered close to the boy's hand.

A red snake with a ridged head.

"Asta get away from that thing!" Lilly yelled and ran up to him.

The boy only got a chance to turn around just in time to see the serpent bite down onto his hand. Within a few seconds that its fang sunk into his flesh and he could feel something being injected into his hand.

Once the snake let go, Asta could he the blood veins in his hand bulged and colored crimson. Worse, it's spreading.

The white-haired boy looked at the snake in shock and disbelief. The red serpent simply stared back at him with its cold yellow eyes.

"Asta!" Sister Lily shouted. She finally reached him and pulled him away from the venomous reptile. "Asta, are you alright?" The gentle nun asked.

The white-haired boy tried to answer but suddenly found his vocal cord burning like someone had poured acid down his throat. He felt numb; he felt like he was being burned alive from both inside and outside. The boy tried to scream, but nothing could come out, only weak gasping.

"Asta! Asta! Hang in there! Please!" Lily shouted, trying to keep the boy awake. "Yuno, please go find father!" She shouted to the black-haired boy who broke out of his shock state and ran off to do as he was ordered. The sister herself quickly ran inside the church to apply first aid. "Hang in there Asta. Please hang in there."

* * *

The sky had been blanketed by the stars. It was a very quiet night at the orphanage, no children cheering, no bedtime story, nothing could be heard but a weak sobbing.

Asta was lying on a bed with an extra layer of fabric to help absorb the bleeding that had taken place instead of normal sweat. As if that wasn't enough, trails of crimson ichor had also leaked from the corner of the boy's eyes and mouth.

The village doctor and herbalist had already come to check on him, but both had concluded that this was the work of arcane — they needed a mage. The local wizard Drouot then came to help, but found that he was unable to do anything because, as the old man put it in his shocking state, 'this is no mere magic, it's just… something else entirely.'

So, no one could do anything but waiting for the inevitable.

Drouot told them grimly that the boy would either die from the venom or from blood loss. However, Drouot had asked them, much to Lily's and Yuno's fury and the Father's dismay, for Asta's body to study this new poison. While refusing at first, they eventually gave in for the sake of others who might suffer the same fate as Asta.

It was to some fortune, well for them at least, that Asta had gone into a comatose state; saving them the despair of having to see him die with awakening terror on his face.

Sister was sitting beside him as he slept. Her eyes were red and dried trails of tear were very much evidenced on her visage.

"Asta," she said softly, wiping away a trail of blood that leaked from his mouth. Drouot said that with how much he bled, he wouldn't make it past tonight. "Oh, Asta." If Lily could cry more she would. "You are so young, you can do so much, please don't die." She knew that he couldn't hear her, but this was the boy she raised like a little brother and now he was about to disappear, forever. "Asta… if you come back… I will marry you as you ask, so please come back." No responses, only slowly breathing from the boy. "Please, Asta."

It was at this moment that she noticed something outside the window of the church infirmary. A pair of yellow eyes with slit pupils. It was at this moment that the sister realized what was on the other side, her fear and fury flared up but she was unable to act when the creature lung through the window.

The red serpent quickly wrapped itself around Asta. No longer was it the size of a regular snake, now it was a fully grown anaconda-sized snake that could strangle a fully grown bull or horse with ease.

"No! Let him go!" The sister shouted.

Her voice roused the others awake. Father Orsi Ofai got up and opened his door, intending to investigate why Lily had yelled in the middle of the night. What greeted him shock him to the core.

The church was littered with snakes and lizards of all forms, sizes, and colorations. Not a single inch in the holy place was not covered in reptiles.

"Aaahhh!" He heard another scream and saw that the children had also opened the door of their chamber to discover this as well.

"Children! Stay in your room!" Father shouted across and the girl who had opened nodded and was about to close the door, but one boy rushed past her and ran across the swarm of reptile.

"Yuno! Don't!" Orsi ordered, but it was no use.

Yuno headed straight for the infirmary, avoiding and blasting away any creatures in his way. But his lack of experience made him missed and it cost him.

A snake lung from the boy's blind side, its fangs sunk into Yuno's ankle. Within a few seconds, he collapsed, paralyzed by the venom, with a shocked expression stuck on his face.

Orsi readied his magic grimoire for the rescue, but in his determination he overlooked a snake from above that fell down and bite him in the neck. He soon suffered the same fate as Yuno. Both of them could do nothing but laid down paralyzed by the venom

'Asta, Lilly, I am sorry,' both of them thought in hopelessness as they could hear some kind of struggle coming out of the infirmary.

Back with the nun, she tried using every tool and magic available to her to free the white-haired boy from the serpent, but nothing work. Her magic dispelled upon contacting with the reptile, all tools and weapons broke against its hide, and no plea could be heard.

Eventually, Lily collapsed on her own accord, already exhausted beforehand.

"Please… let him go…" She managed to mutter before slipping into blissful unconsciousness. The snake spared her a glance then turned back to Asta as it leaned closer to the boy.

* * *

Asta slowly opened his eyes. He found himself in a void, empty and colorless. He got up from the ground and observed his surrounding.

"Hello!" He shouted.

There was a momentary silence.

"_**Warmblood,"**_ A voice replied from the shadow. The best way to describe the tone was 'rough', like something inhuman attempted to try to speak in the tongue of men.

"W-who's there!" Asta braved himself, but something in the very core of him, the base instinct of when men were but animal told him one thing; run.

"_**What is the last thing you remember?"**_ The voice asked.

The boy straightened himself as he recalled his last memory.

"There was a snake and then… it bites me, then it hurt so much that I pass out," The white-haired boy retold.

"_**So you're not as idiotic as it appeared,"**_ the voice hushed.

"Who are you calling an idiot!" Asta shouted, fury flaring up. "And who the heck are you anyway!?"

There was a savage sneer echoed out of the shadow. "_**Who am I? I AM A GOD!"**_

The world suddenly exploded. The light blinded Asta for a few minutes before he finally regained his sight and witness what was before him.

No longer was he surrounded by darkness, but in another world. Asta stood on top of a step pyramid that reigned over the lush jungle of green. In the distant, the boy could see strange shapes moving in the sky, above the treeline, and down into the forest floor. He could even feel the heat.

A large shadow fell over him and he turned around to see what had created the shade.

Behind him was a serpent, tall as a mountain and wide as a great river. Its red scale reflected the orange sun and its cold gaze had made Asta experienced one thing he never had felt before: fear. The gargantuan snake lowered its head toward the white-haired boy.

With its main body that had obscured the view shifted, Asta could see that what stood before him was but a fraction of how massive this being was; he was sure that a few 'mountains' in the distant was not actually mountains.

The serpent extended its fork-tongue, tasting the air before wrapping them around the boy a few times.

Once the tongue retreated, it spoke, "_**Do you know why you were bitten?"**_

That was the same voice as back in the darkness. Now that the boy remembered it, this being looked nearly identical to that red snake, albeit the spinal spikes and occasional blue stripe that dotted its body. Then the boy finally got it.

"Ah! You're the one who bit me!" He yelled at the primordial god.

The serpent simply stared at the boy.

"_**It's good that intelligence was not the trait I am looking for,"**_ the being hushed. "_**Answer the question, warmblood."**_ It commanded.

"How the heck should I know why you sent a snake to kill me!"

"_**Kill you?"**_ The god merely blinked. "_**If I wish to do that, I wouldn't have sent a mere serpent, presuming you even deserve the attention from the start."**_

"Then why?!" Asta questioned.

The gigantic snake waited for a few moments before sneering, "_**Warmblood, always so emotional, but at least your personality is more fitting than others of your kind, but this is none of your concern. Do you know who I am?"**_

"What the heck are you on about! Why are you keep asking questions!? Why can't you jus-" The boy complained was cut off when a powerful quake shook him off his feet.

"_**Answer. The. Question. Warmblood."**_ The great serpent commanded.

For the second time in his life, Asta experience fear.

"Y-you said you are a god, right?" he answered.

"_**Good, at least you have a decent memory."**_ The being gave a low hiss. "_**I am a god from beyond this world, I am the most infamous of the Old Ones, I am the Deliverer of the Lustria."**_ The serpent moved away and slithered at the speed Asta thought impossible for something of its size. As its body moved, everything around the god was destroyed by the mere movement of the great serpent. The sound of hundreds of creatures cried out their dying scream echoing throughout the ravaged jungle.

The green of trees was quickly being replaced by the red scale of the being and nothing was left but the body of the serpent that stretched as far as the eyes could see wherever Asta looked. With a mere whim of a god, the entire ecosystem was destroyed. The serpent had extended its head upward, now looking down on him from beyond the sky.

"_**I am the Lord of Reptile, I am the Arch-Enemy of the Horned Vermin God, I am the Bane of all Skavenkind, I am the Serpent God: Sotek!"**_

Asta's heart beat faster and faster with each passing seconds he stared into the primordial god's eyes. In his mortal heart, he knew that he was indeed looking at a divine being.

"_**You shall be my prophet, little warmblood,"**_ Sotek said.

That broke Asta out of his trance and blinded.

"W-what do you mean?" The boy asked.

"_**I have come to this new world to spread my influence, but without any children of the Old Ones in your world I decide to use the native populace instead,"**_ Sotek lowered his head back to the previous level. "_**I have peered into the threads of fate of this world and saw you close to its center,"**_ a glint in Asta's eyes shore. He was important! "_**Do not get ahead of yourself. There are many who were as significant, if not more, as you are in the grand scheme of things, you are simply the most compatible."**_

The boy took a few seconds to gather himself and spoke back.

"S-so, you want me to be like a priest?" Asta didn't actually look forward to turning into someone like Father Orsi, even if he was grateful for all the support the priest had given him all this time.

"_**I do not have 'priest', those who worship me does not do so from a shrine, but on the battlefield and from the sacrificial altar,"**_ the Serpent God clarified. "_**I foresaw that you will come into many conflicts in the future. Not only that but your wild nature, your lack of human decency, your wit in battle, and your lack of magic make you ideal for being my prophet."**_

"How does any of that make me a good choice?" He questioned at being reminded that he lacked magic, not that that was going to stop him from being a Magic Emperor.

"_**The first two qualities make you similar to the Lizardmen, the creature that serves us Old Ones. The third one is necessary because, as I said, my worshippers will find themselves on the battlefields. The last one is a fail-safe trait, but you need not know more than that. But now come the last matter,"**_ Sotek observed Asta up and down one last time. "_**Do you accept this honor, little warmblood?"**_

"I don't like a bully who goes around biting people!" As strange as that phrase was, the boy was indeed don't like being press-gang like this.

"_**You can always refuse,"**_ Sotek retorted.

"Then I-"

"_**But my venom shall kill you."**_

There was a momentary silence.

"You're cheating!" Asta shouted. Sotek's face indicated no humor, however.

"_**There is no such thing as 'cheating' when it comes to the game of the gods, warmblood. There is no rule, only life or death. Now, do you accept to be my prophet?"**_

Asta paused, between being used or die he wasn't sure what to choose. Would he die a free man or shackled to the will of a god. Then he thought of them — Yuno, Lilly, Oris, and the other children. If he died then what would happen to them? So Asta finally decided.

"Alright, I accept," Asta replied with determination in his eyes.

"_**Good,"**_ Sotek tried not to look disappointed. Heroic type, they are always the same, especially for a warmblood.

The world around them began to shook, but unlike the quake from before, it was as if the entire reality was breaking apart.

"W-wwhat is happening?!"

"_**Our deal is sealed, my servant shall await you in the waking world. He shall be your guide. Do not disappoint me, prophet of mine."**_

With that, Asta's world was consumed in white light again.

* * *

The white-haired boy opened his eyes again. He quickly got up in shock and looked around.

He was in the infirmary, sitting on a bloodstained sheet, and Sister Lily was on the floor, unconscious.

"Lily!" Asta shouted and immediately jumped down from the bed to check on her. He observed her, unable to find any injury or any harms on her body or in their surrounding. "Lily wake up!" He shook her but there was no response.

Asta heard a snake hiss, he looked over to see the very same serpent that bit him earlier pointing its tail to a wooden cup next to it. Despite its previous action, something told him to trust this creature.

"She needs to drink that?" The reptile nodded. Asta quickly rushed to get the cup and placed it near Lily's mouth before slowly feed the nun whatever liquid that was inside the cup. Within a few heartbeats, Lily slowly opened her eyes.

"Asta?" The nun hushed. "You… are… okay?" She managed to mutter.

"Never better!" He replied with a wide grin. Lily could only utter a weak smile back.

"Asta! Lily!" Father Oris and Yuno burst into the room. "Asta you awake! Are you two alright?!" Oris asked in both shock and happiness.

"Yeah, but I think Lily need a rest," the white-haired boy informed.

Asta help Lily got back up on her feet and father and Yuno made their way toward them. However, midway Yuno barred the priest way with his arm.

"Wait, there's a snake," the black-haired boy said and pointed at the red serpent on the nearby table.

"There are snakes and lizards everywhere, Yuno," Oris reminded the boy. Though even he wondered why they suddenly became non-hostile all of the sudden.

"This's the one that bit Asta," the boy informed much to the father shock.

Asta, on the other hand, just approached the red serpent much to the father's and Yuno's surprise.

"Are you the servant, _he_ mentioned?" The serpent merely nodded. "Do you have a name?" It didn't react, but a name simply appeared in Asta's head. 'Tehenhauin' was the word that appeared, but it was quite hard to understand by either a mere eight-year-old or someone who was not accustomed to the tongue of the Lizardmen

"Tahun… Tehan… Tupac… AH! Just Tehen then!" The snake just stared at Asta, no emotion visible on its face.

"Asta… why are you talking to a snake?" Oris asked as the three others were too uncomfortable to approach.

"Oh right!" The white-haired boy turned around back to them. Now the others noticed one feature on Asta that had changed, a strand of his hair had changed to the shade of crimson. "A snake god named Sotek make me its prophet!" The boy said bluntly, which followed by much disbelief, questions, and a very convoluted explanation.

Suffice to say, the fate of Clover Kingdom had changed much just in a single day.

* * *

**A/N: I got no Beta reader on this one yet, Black Clover fandom isn't that big.**


	2. Grimoire of the Prophet

**A/N: The mangarock's translation of Black Clover and the Wiki have several very different names, same meaning just uses different words. Still, I will use the wiki one, in case any Warhammer fan want to look up the wiki.**

* * *

**The White Serpent**

It had been about seven years since that fateful day. The day that Sotek came for him.

Frankly, Asta didn't see much of a difference from before. Besides the new red companion, a new strand of red hair, and his new ability to guilt-tripping Yuno, nothing seemed to change too much in his life; his magic power didn't increase and he got no new powers. The only thing that happened was Tehen would drag him out of bed to train his body every morning but that's all.

Today was different though, this was the day for Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony.

Grimoire was the very essence of being a mage, no, a person in this world of magic. Without one, a person wouldn't be able to channel their magical power into a proper spell. Suffice to say, anyone had grimoire; peasant, noble, knight, thief, seafarer, cook, nearly everyone had a grimoire.

"Arrgghh, my back felt so sore," Asta said as he walked toward the wizard tower alongside the others from the orphanage.

"That's just your fault for using those rocks as weights while doing sit-ups," Yuno replied. Tehen, who was sitting on Asta's left shoulder, hissed at the black-haired boy. "Like you're the one to talk, you don't even have arms." While Yuno couldn't ever understand a thing that snake said, its action had always been so obvious it's easy enough to guess; this serpent was certainly no mere animal.

"Now, now, please don't fight. Today is a special day," Lily reminded them.

Tehen just hissed again, though this time at the sky.

"Is he preying?" Hollo, a very young orphan that came along, asked

"It's 'praying', Hollo," Nash, another orphan, corrected.

"Heresy," Oris just said bluntly, still didn't really like, or even believe, the idea that Asta would be a prophet to this 'Serpent God.'

"A-anyways," Lily said again, trying to defuse the situation. "We're here."

Indeed, they had arrived in front of the wizard tower. Without delay, the group went inside where other people, who had also come of age, had already gathered. The two parted way with the others and stepped into the assembly of people their age, Tehen still stuck with Asta.

Even as they walked in, Yuno and Asta could hear whispering insult from other people, mostly the richer kids. They ignored them, however, a perk of growing up in an orphanage was making them thick-skinned. [1]

Soon the wizard, Drouot, came forward to give a short speech, including urging someone in their area to become a Magic Emperor, before letting the magic worked itself and the grimoires began to fly out of the shelves and into its owner's hand.

Asta opened his arm wide, waiting for his grimoire. He waited, and waited, and waited.

Only when everyone else got their books did he started to feel that something was off. Why was-

'Patient,' a voice hushed in Asta's head.

Since he became the supposed 'Prophet of Sotek', he would occasionally hear these voices — guiding him. To this day he still not sure if it was Sotek or Tehen who was talking to him, but there was no use disobeying it so he continued to wait.

Some people who already got their grimoire noticed his lack of magic text and quietly chuckled or insulted him, but before more people could notice a very bright light shore from Yuno's grimoire.

Yuno's grimoire was a four-leaf grimoire. One of the rarest type, the type that was said to be the most powerful, the type believed to only be given based on luck, the type that the Magic Emperor had also received.

The black-haired boy just stared at the powerful artifact in his hands before finally spoke.

"I'll become… the Magic Emperor."

There was a momentary silence then the hall erupted in a unison roar of cheer. It appeared everyone seemed to see him as a beacon of hope for the peasant and for people of this village.

Yuno let it pass over him. He turned to look at his promised rival, only to find that Asta had walked a little bit away from him with a… stone tablet in hands? Judging from how intense the white-haired boy was looking at it, there was no doubt that was Asta's grimoire, but there were so many questions.

Why was it made of stone?

When did Asta get it? It certainly didn't fly to the boy else, Yuno or anyone else would have noticed it.

Why was there no clover on the back of the tablet?

However, Yuno didn't get his answer when Drouot announced that the ceremony was concluded and told everyone to leave. He walked back to Father Oris, Sister Lily, and the others with Asta followed close behind. Father and the other kids had already run ahead, thinking about arranging a feast. Lily and Yuno, meanwhile, looked a little bit concerned at Asta.

The white-haired boy was always loud-mouthed and usually had a short attention span, but now he was focusing on reading the stone tablet in his hands; a trait he had never exhibited as far as anyone could remember. As the two watched on, their concerned grew when they saw Tehen hissed quietly to the boy.

That snake was not particularly active back in the orphanage, besides help getting rid of vermin. Now though, there was a much more ferocious new look in its eyes.

When Asta was close to Yuno, the black-haired boy expected some kind of greeting, challenge or congratulation, or anything, but Asta… he just walked past him. Yuno's eyes widened.

"Asta," Yuno called the white-haired boy.

Asta looked like he was suddenly broke out of his trance.

"Oh, Yuno! I nearly forget I was still in the tower!" Asta spoke in his usual high volume, much to the relief of his rival. "Well, don't get cocky just 'cause you got four-leaf clover grimoire! I'm still going to be a Magic Emperor!"

Yuno allowed himself to his lips to turn upward a little at his childhood friend antic, but it quickly disappeared as he took a glance at the stone tablet.

"Asta why is your grimoire made of stone and why didn't have any clover on it?" He asked the very obvious questions.

"Oh, these?" Asta lifted his arcane plaque up to their eyes level.

The material of the tablet was certainly stone, but despite the dark-grey color it was certainly not common granite or any type of mineral Yuno could identify off the top of his head. On one side were lines of glyphs that was a written language of an unknown civilization, while on the other side (the barren one) was a single symbol of a serpent head baring four fangs located in the middle of the page.

"It's Sotek's doing!" The fact that Asta answered him with a straight face disturbed Yuno. "He gave this plaque as my grimoire." A silence hung in the air for a few moments.

"And what about your own grimoire?" Yuno asked.

"This is my grimoire!"

"That wasn't what I meant." Yuno visibly frowned. "If he gives you this stone grimoire then what about the one that was supposed to be your?"

The reaction Asta showed Yuno was not what he expected, a completely still and neutral expression that displayed no emotion; this wasn't like him at all.

"We can talk later, Lily and the others are waiting for us." Asta walked away, leaving a dumbfounded Yuno behind.

Something… was really wrong with the white-haired boy. Wait… where was Tehen?

* * *

While the others had gone back to prepare a feast back at the orphanage, Asta decided to come out to find a suitable spot to use his new power. After finding a clearing in the nearby wood, he sat down and laid the plaque in front of him.

Asta folded his arms and narrowed his eyes.

Back when he touched it the first time he felt a strange sensation came over him. He didn't know what it was, but… Asta did not like it. It made his heart cold and his mind still; it changed him. In those few moments before Yuno snapped him back… he didn't… want to be a Magic Emperor, or at least thought it didn't matter. So for the third time, Asta experienced fear, fear at what this power would do to him.

This had made him wary of his newfound grimoire, if he could even call it 'his' since Sotek was the one giving it to him. Yuno had made a great point when he asked what happened to his 'real' grimoire, but that was a question Asta couldn't answer either.

But with all that being said, he wouldn't deny this power. He would make it his and then…

"I will become the Magic Emperor no matter what!" Asta shouted to the sun setting sky. He then looked back at the tablet. "Alright, let's see how this work." A hiss interrupted him. Asta turned around and saw no other than Tehen. "Oh, Tehen! You are supposed to be my guide from Sotek, right? Can you help me with this?" The white-haired boy put the stone tablet forward.

The red serpent opened its mouth and bite Asta thumb, forcing him to drop his grimoire. This time what sang into Asta's fresh wasn't poisonous fangs, but sharp needle teeth. The snake let go and reveal the wound it had inflicted.

"What was that for!?" Asta screamed at the serpent, but it merely waited.

A drop of blood trickled down Asta's thumb and touched the plaque. The light shore from the stone grimoire and a handle emerged; made of gold and stone. Tehen motioned its head at the handle.

Asta, with his undamaged right hand, reached for it and pulled out the weapon. In term of size, this weapon stuck in-between being a dagger and a sword. Its shape was asymmetrical with its double-edged wavy blade. The white-haired boy gave it a few swings. The sword was quite light, lighter than he expected.

Tehen hissed again to get Asta's attention. It motioned again at the boy's bleeding hand.

"What? What do you want me to do with it?" Tehen bit the air then motion at the dagger. Asta stared at the blade for a few moments before bitting it. "Is this what you meant?" The boy uttered while his teeth still biting the blade. The serpent just facepalmed with its tail.

When the reptile recovered from the shock and awe Asta had inflicted on it, Tehen used its tail to catch a drop of blood that dripped from Asta's hand before painting it onto the plaque.

"Oh, so that what you mean! I need blood to make the grimoire work right?" The red snake nodded. Asta then understood why the snake motioned at the dagger a few times "Alright, let's… try this then."

While Asta was willing to do a lot to use this power, cutting himself wasn't exactly what he had in mind. So with some courage, he slid his left hand. He let the stream of blood dripped onto the tablet. The stone grimoire shore again in bright light. A phrase suddenly found itself into Asta's head and without hesitation he uttered it.

"**Lore of Sotek: Tongue of the Old Ones."**

With that, the boy had cast his first spell. A new knowledge surged into his brain. Every glyph was now understood to him, every line, every sentence, every idiom; now he had learned the tongue of the Lizardmen. The light wasn't gone yet.

Asta presumed that there was a connection between his grimoire and the amount of blood he gave to it. So now Asta cast another spell, this time directly from the tablet now that he could understand it

"**Lore of The Third Slann: Mending Scale."**

The cut and bite on Asta's left hand began to heal, knitting itself close. Asta folded his left hand into a fist a few times, testing if there were any lingering pain. When he was sure that his palm was fully healed, he looked at the plaque again to see that the light had faded completely.

"I wonder…" Asta mumbled to himself. He swung his hand a few time to let the blood droplet on his hand fell onto the grimoire. With the offering being made, a plaque shore again, this time dimly.

Asta picked up the stone tablet, reading through the available spells at his disposal and spotted one that looked like a good one to test his theory about the blood quantity. He picked up the tablet and aimed at the nearby tree.

"**Lore of Chotec: Solar Ray!"** A thin bolt of light shoot out of the grimoire and hit the tree, leaving a burning mark on the bark. "Alright, let's try this again." This time Asta cut himself with the dagger and offered more blood to his grimoire.

"**Lore of Chotec: Solar Ray!"** This time the bolt was so powerful it pushed him backward, the sun-bolt the size of a watermelon exploded upon making contact with the tree and rip the bark and hardwood asunder; causing the tree to fall. "Whoa! That's awesome!" Asta yelled in excitement.

While he wondered why this spell didn't have 'Sotek' in its name, he couldn't careless. The white-haired boy suddenly heard a hiss from Tehen. He turned to look at the serpent hissing toward the wood. It hissed again in the same direction.

"What is it, Tehen?" Asta asked in-between casting another **Mending Scale** with the leftover power; his hand wasn't completely healed this time, but at least the cut was mended. Tehen hissed again and motioned toward the wood. "Is something going on? Should we take a look?" The snake nodded.

"Alright then," the boy put his serpent companion on his shoulder. "Let's go!" With that, Asta charged in the pointed direction.

* * *

"Hehehe, you shouldn't be wandering around the wood during twilight hours like this, boy," a man with black wavy hair said to Yuno.

Yuno just simply stared back at him, no reaction on his face. He came out here to look for Asta, but now he got caught up in this mess. Despite the lack of emotion, however, he started to form a plan to get himself out of this situation. But that was going to be difficult, especially with these magic-binding chain wrapped around him.

"Until recently, I was a Magic Knight. Revchi of Chain, I was quite famous, you might have heard of me. Now though, I am just a petty thief." Revchi showed his burnt face to Yuno. "Well, maybe not 'petty' for long at least. With that Four-Clover Grimoire of your, if I could find a nice buyer in the black market, I will be much better off; maybe even leaving this life behind." The ex-Magic Knight, the elite soldier of the Clover Kingdom, said gleefully.

"It's a shame though, everyone who had received…"

While Revchi was monologuing, Asta was near his intended destination. That was when Tehen pulled on Asta's hair, _hard_.

"Argh," the white-haired boy groaned as he fell backward. "What was that-" He was cut off when Tehen putting its tail on his lips, signaling him to silence. When the boy only looked at the snake in expectation, it motioned its head toward the bush.

Asta nodded and quietly crawled toward the hiding spot. He peered his eyes past the bush to see Yuno being restrained by chain while a suspicious looking man was talking to him. He really didn't need to see anymore.

The boy looked down at his grimoire. Considering how it worked, he should go in with it charged rather than cutting himself while fighting. So Asta slid his left hand with the dagger and let his blood powered the plaque.

As the light of his grimoire began to shine, Asta took notice that some lines of glyphs shine immediately when his ichor touched the stone, while others took more blood before beginning to shine. [2]

'Nice! Now I know how much blood I need to cast certain spell,' Asta cheered in his head at such a convenient function.

Now Asta shifted his focus into searching for a proper invocation to use in this situation. Tehen quietly hissed, catching the prophet's attention. The red serpent used its tail to swipe upward on the plaque surface and, in response, the grimoire's page scrolled itself upward with the spells at the top disappeared and new ones came to take their place. [3]

"Whoa," Asta muttered in astonishment. He tried himself, swiping downward.

As the page itself scrolled downward, the glyphs at on the lower part disappeared while the ones that had previously varnished came back. Asta did this a few times, swiping up and down before he reminded himself that he had a friend to save. With so many spells, Asta didn't know what to choose, so he settled for the one that caught his attention.

"Alright, this one then!" Asta said and gripped his dagger tight then pointed his stone tablet forward. "**Lore of Sotek: Summon Carnosaur!"**

A small explosion erupted in front of him, but he had braced for it. In a mere second, the light was gone and left in the crater of the explosion was a creature.

Standing over twelve meters tall on its mighty hind legs that could crush a mere human with ease, the monstrous reptile the size of a house looked around with its pair of yellow eyes with slit pupils.

Despite the short arms, it compensated by a one-meter long jaw that could bite and shredded most creatures with no problem, human included.

Yuno and Revchi could only stare at the creature that had suddenly appeared in shock.

"Carnosaur! Get the guy with the cloak!" A voice shouted from behind the creature.

In response to the command, the Carnosaur gave a short roar, revealing its sharp rows of teeth, before charging toward Revchi without a pause.

Startled by the appearance of this creature, Revchi panicked, though one couldn't blame him. Even a well-trained state troop from an empire in another world, who had trained their whole life to die in the line of duty for nothing more than to be of use to his country, would falter in front of such terrifying being; the predators of Lustria were not to be trifled with.

Revchi, while possessed a few spells that could be of use in this situation, had forsaken those spell in distress and cast only a few spells that he could think off the top of his head.

Chain after chain broke upon the superior jaw and leg of the mighty hunter of Lustria and the Carnosaur wasn't even slowing down.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Revchi shouted as he ran away, forgetting to take Yuno's Grimoire with him.

The apex predator ran past Yuno and chased after its target. Yuno could feel the earth quaking as it went by and he stood completely still in shock for a while until…

"Yuno!" Asta shouted as he ran up to his childhood friend. "Are you alright?"

The black-haired boy just nodded with a bit widen eyes. The chain soon disappeared and Yuno was free to move again.

"Asta," Yuno began as he stared at the boy. "Was that your magic?"

"Yup!" The white-haired boy then looked past Yuno in the direction where the Carnosaur had gone. "Don't kill him!" Asta shouted and ran after it.

Yuno opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he couldn't. Then he saw Tehen slithered past him. The serpent suddenly paused and looked Yuno in the eyes.

Its yellow predatory orbs stared at Yuno's amber eyes.

"Asta… isn't someone you can control. He is himself, he is my friend," Yuno told the snake, breaking his usually stoic face and returning the fierce look back at the serpent. The reptile just broke eyes contact and followed the white-haired boy.

Yuno just sighed and ran after them as well, hoping that the future wouldn't be as bleak for Asta as he feared.

* * *

Deep beneath the world, where light could not reach. In the dark and dank corner of the Clover Kingdom, lighting began to surge in the air. Slowly, a ball of pure unholy chaotic started to form and soon exploded. The result from the explosion created a tear in the very fabric of reality itself.

A figure in dark green armor stepped forward.

"My invention work, yes-yes." With its paw, it held a device in its hand closer to its face. "Not stable-steady yet, but it didn't explode on the first time. I would call-say that a success."

With its other mechanical hand, it flicked a fuel-switch and bathed a cave in sickly green light from the flame in its claws paw.

"Hmm, need to tune-adjust the location, no use for a cave with no way to get slaves-workers over," the creature mumbled to itself. "Oh well-well, it doesn't matter-important for now." It shut the light and turned around to walk back into the portal. "Still…"

It reached into its pouch and took out a small crystal that glowed in bright green light.

"This a nice spot-place to grow-plant Warpstone, yes-yes." With that, it crouched down and forced the stone deep into the virgin earth until it buried deep into the ground. "Will come back to take-harvest later, but not only the stone, no-no."

The creature began to cackle madly, enjoying the mere thought of the possibilities this new had to offer. "We will take this world! We will take everything! In the name of the Horned-Rat! All shall fear the might of the Under-Empire and the Skaven! All will know the name of Chief Warlock Engineer of Clan Skyre, Ikit Claw!"

Then, the creature was gone, still laughing as it went back through the portal.

But this was far from its last visit, for a dark force had finally arrived in this world.

* * *

**A/N: You wouldn't expect me to use some generic Chaos threat in this story when we are focusing on the Lizardmen, do you? All roads lead to Skavenblight! No matter the dimension!**

[1] This is a metaphor/idiom for not being easily upset by word, not literally thick-skinned.

[2] Ichor is a fancy word for blood. Prepare to remember this because we will be using the word 'blood' a lot.

[3] It basically a magical stone iPad-Grimoire.


	3. Instructor of the Prophet

**A/N: Yeah, this story might not update as frequently as I thought. I also got hit by mid-year depression so I was holding this off for a long time.**

**I am also still looking for anyone who is willing to beta read this.**

* * *

**The White Serpent**

Asta paced around his stone grimoire. It had been three months since the day he had received this gift from Sotek, though whether it is really a gift or not is debatable. Since that day he had been training with it non-stop.

Tehen had taught him some of the tablet's basic functions. Apparently, his stone tablet could be scrolled left and right as well. After the white-haired boy began experimenting with these new spells, he soon discovered that the incantations are separated into sections based on which side of the grimoire he scrolled toward.

The left section was for artifacts and weapons of unimaginable power. There was even a sword inside of a sword _inside_ of a sword that shot laser for Sotek's sake!

The upward section was the more 'traditional' spells, these ranged from a variation of sunray and sun bolt to something that Asta could only describe as 'dynamite with a laser beam!'.

The right-side was composed of, what Tehen called, 'invocations'. While the white-haired teen couldn't see the different from the spells in the upward section, most invocations tended to be the more supporting oriented spells that didn't outright harm his target — though he wasn't sure that making the sky raining snakes wouldn't be classified as harmful.

Lastly, the downward section was where the summoning spells were. Asta was a bit reluctant to test these summons out. After nearly killing that chain-using wizard, the Carnosaur went on a rampage around Hage. It took him about an hour to finally catch up to it and used something akin to a 'de-summon' to stop it. Then there are the angry farmers, but let's just say he had dealt with that.

Asta shook his head.

"Dammit, I need to focus!" the white-haired boy shouted.

Asta didn't want to admit it, but he ran headfirst into the problem just a few days after getting his grimoire. The issue? He didn't know where to start his training.

There are so many types of spells for him to use, so many summonses, and so many artifacts. He could test them one at a time, but that would take too long. Yuno had almost mastered his grimoire in a mere day. He needed to catch up with his rival, but how?

A bush nearby suddenly rustled. Asta twisted his head around to see it. Within a few heartbeats, a man with red messy hair and trimmed bread emerged from the green. Asta also noticed another thing about this man.

"Ah, hello there," the red-haired man greeted. Asta only remained silent. "Umm, sorry kid, but can I ask you something?" A few things happened with the next few seconds. Asta summoned a handcuff (made of gold), restained the confused stranger with it, and led him away. "Umm, boy, what are you doing?"

"I'm taking you to the guard. Streaking and public nudity are illegal here in Hage," Asta explained with a straight face.

"W-wait, just hold on, I-I am ju-"

Asta cut him off.

"Save it for the guard."

"No!" the stranger shouted, causing Asta to pause. "I am not a criminal or a pervert! I was taking a bath in a pond when my clothes were gone!"

Asta tiled his head as he looked at the man curiously. "What do you mean?"

Seeing his chance, the red-haired man began by introducing himself as Fanzell Kruger. He then explained that he was running away from some bad guys chasing him all the way from the Diamond Kingdoms in the east because he wanted to quit his job in the army, unofficially.

"So you are a deserter?" Asta asked.

"Rude… but, yes," Fanzell admitted. "Look, just help me find my cloth and I will be on my way."

"Well, shouldn't you ask the authority for help?"

"There is a risk that the authority will either turn me over to my kingdom to avoid a political incident or my tracker will ambush them while I am restained and take me back; Clover and Diamond kingdoms ain't exactly friendly with each other, it will just be another grudge in the long list of wrongdoings between the two," Fanzell predicted.

Asta held his chin, thinking, but, in usual Asta fashion, he got nothing.

"Sorry, I don't know how I can help… besides finding you a cloth, of course," the white-haired teen apologized.

"That's more than I can ask for," Fanzell said with a soft smile.

"Say, what were your job that was so important for them to chase you?"

"I was a combat instructor."

"That's it? They want to kill you just because you teach people how to fight for themselves?"

The red-haired man chuckled. "You made it sound so noble… too noble." Fanzell cast his eyes downward. He looked lost in thought for a moment before continuing. "In any event, I am the top instructor in the kingdom, so naturally they let me in on some secrets that will be too important to fall in the hand of other kingdoms. So when I run away, they just did what they had too."

"You don't mind being chased?" Asta asked.

"Of course I mind it! Just because I understand why people do something, doesn't mean I have to accept their actions."

A moment of silence followed. Asta was thinking about Fanzell's situation. Then something clicked in his mind. He realized something,

"Fanzell, you said you're a combat instructor, right?" The red-haired man lifted an eyebrow before nodding in affirmation. "Can you teach me? I just got my grimoire and the Magic Knight Test is coming up. I need some help preparing."

Fanzell scratched his head. "Hmm, well, maybe I could teach you a few things if you find me some clothes. What do you need help with though?"

Asta began explaining his problem. His grimoire possessed a large number of spells, which made learning all of them a difficult task. The white-haired teen then informed Fanzell of the four types of power his tome possessed: spells, invocations, artifacts, and summons.

"Hmm, I guess having so much power from the start would be a problem." It wasn't much of a guess, he had already seen an effect of people who got too much power than they could handle. He shook those memories. He would rather not remember them. So he focused back on the task at hand. "Right, I think I can help you just a bit, but I want to know first about your fighting style. Do you have fighting style, kid?" The red-haired man asked dryly.

"I just go in and start attacking!"

"Close-quarter assault-style then." Fanzell scratched his chin. "In that case, here's my recommendation." Asta leaned forward in anticipation. "Focus on your artifacts and weapons since they fit your style more. Regular spells require the certain, umm, calculation to use properly, but since that doesn't suit you I would say you should turn them into a complementary power in conjunction with your weaponry."

"What about my summons?" Asta questioned.

"From how you describe them, they will either become your main power or supporting power depending on the situation. So just familiarize yourself with what each of your summonses can do and you should be good. Now, what weapon do you have in your arsenal?"

"Mostly spears, shields, clubs, mace, and… it's this weapon that mixing a club and a sword together." Frankly, Asta had no idea how to pronounce these 'Maquahuitl', so he settled for describing. "It's kind of like a greatsword if you ask me."

"I see. Still, I can only help you with one type. Or one for each type, since you said they seem to have magical property, so just pick the ones you like. I can only help you for so long since I'm still a fugitive, especially without anything but my clothes with me." Fanzell looked down and remembered that he lost that too. Now he really wished Dominante was safe.

"What if I pay you?"

The combat instructor quirked his eyebrows. "No offense, kid, but you don't look, umm, heavy pocket. Though to answer your question, I can probably teach you a little longer if you give me some money or items to trade."

As much as he disgusted at himself for saying that, Fanzell couldn't deny any chance to make money. He was in a kingdom that had once considered him an enemy, with assassins on his trail no less. He needed whatever means he could find to survive. It didn't help either that he only had a few coins minted with Diamond Kingdom symbol, which would bring him nothing but trouble and would attract too much attention if he exchanged them for Clover's money.

Well, in any event, he doubted Asta could offer him anything. Just clothes would be more than enough to make him grateful.

"Will this do?" Asta asked and brought Fanzell back to reality.

The red-haired man looked at Asta's extended arm and the item that laid on his palm. His eyes nearly popped out of their socket in shock. Because Asta's hand was a necklace made entire of gold with about seven different types of gems embedded into it.

"W-wha-where did you get that?!" Fanzell asked in shock and awe.

Instead of answering, Asta took up his dagger and cut his hand. The combat instructor was baffled at first, but his surprise soon turned to curiosity when he saw the boy his blood dripped onto his stone grimoire. The light began to shine from the glyphs. The white-haired boy reached his hand into his own grimoire and pulled out another similar necklace.

"I-is your grimoire use gold magic?" Fanzell asked in disbelief.

"Nope!"

After this, a little explanation followed about the source of his grimoire's power, Sotek. Fanzell was somewhat skeptical about all of this, but that was the usual reaction Asta got when it came to this topic. Eventually, though, they had managed to come to an agreement and Fanzell was to teach Asta whatever he could for a month.

So, Asta had temporarily solved a problem in his life, but this was just the first one in a long line of struggle ahead.

* * *

Deep beneath the crust of the Earth, the subterranean realm of the Clover Kingdom quaked as it was being molested by the force beyond this world.

In a gigantic and dark open cavern, the sound of infernal machines and whips lashing an entire chunk of flesh off the ratman slaves raged across this dark place. Rotten wood and gnawed stone had been laid as a foundation of this new undercity of the Skaven. It had been but a few months since they had discovered this new unspoiled realm and they had already made a move to reap everything in their path.

A grey-furred Skaven clad in dark armor stood atop of the tower that overlooked the entirety of this dark city.

Chief Warlock Engineer Ikit Claw surveyed his domain as if to see whether there was anything amiss.

Ikit noticed a landmark that shadowed the hideous and disgusting city of the verminous ratmen, a large circular arch implanted into the wall of the cavern.

The mad-genius couldn't help but flashed a grin as he looked upon the arch, the newest masterpiece in his long list of master masterpieces; a machine that brought them to this place. It laid dormant for now, but when the time came the machine would come to life again and more slave, machine, and Warpstone would be brought to him, _him_.

"Great-Great Chief Warlock Engineer!" someone called from the floor below. "The representatives of other clans are here-here."

Ikit turned his muzzle away from the view of _his_ new city and down toward the floor between. He growled. Dealing with other clans were never his specialty. He would usually leave suck tasks for his master, Lord-Warlock Morskittar, or any other Warlock Engineers wishing to advance in rank through backstabbing politics of the Skavendom.

Not him though, all he cared for was creating the ever more magnificent and destructive inventions. Still, his ingenuity had more than once drawn the attention of assassins' blades. Pathetic fools, thinking mere daggers could kill him. So playing politics sometimes had turned into something important to guarantee a quiet working environment.

The grey-furred Skaven checked behind his back. Even atop this desolate tower sprawling a hundred meters tall, one should never underestimate the skills of the assassins of Clan Eshin. Once the coast was clear, his hand reached for the lever and pulled it. With a clang and the turning of rusted cogs, the platform began to descend.

Each anxious minutes passed as the elevator took him down the tower of copper pipes and wires, the Warlock Engineer was always careful to check for sabotage and assassination. Ikit's tail waggle in relief as he had finally arrived at a large half-dome chamber, dimly lit by candles around the room. In the middle of the chamber was a round table of gnawed wood, surrounded by thirteen seats. As of current, ten seats were occupied.

All eyes turned to him when the elevator stopped. Ikit paused for a moment, casting his eyes around to see if any of the rats here would make a move. Unlike the meeting of the Council of Thirteen, there were no Albino Guards to step in if anyone decided to be a suicidal rat. Upon seeing no movement, the engineer-rat quickly walked toward his seat with his chest high to hide his cautious a few moments ago.

"What took you so long?" one of the Skaven sitting at the table asked impatiently. He was a black-furred warrior-rat clad in the infamous red armor. Only one regiment of Stormvermin wore that uniform in the entirety of Under-Empire and the notoriety of its leader was well-known to Ikit. After all, that said leader was right here.

"Am I not allow to see-look at my city? O', mighty Queek Headtaker?" Ikit said mockingly. He would never acknowledge anyone's greatness, but himself.

"Your-your city?! It was the slaves of Clan Gritus that built-built everything you see! Including this tower!" Another Skaven screamed at the Ikit. To be so openly aggressive was a rare trait for Skaven, then again, all rats chosen for this campaign in the new world were unconventional in one way or another. The heavily scarred ratmen continued. "You may be chosen-appoint as our leader, but know-know that it is the slave of mine, Great Warlord Spikulus Blackspear, and of my clan's that create-build this city for you!" the Warlord finished.

The others observed Spikulus. Everything from his size to his armor to… everything about this warlord was unimpressive, but out of every leader here, he was the only one that possessed light brown fur, a synonym for slavery in the Skavendom.

It was well-known that Clan Gritus possessed an abundant quantity of slaverats and a love for gladiatorial bloodsport. It was also common knowledge that the slaves in that Clans could rise in rank through skill in the fighting pit. But to be here, sitting with some of the greatest minds in the Under-Empire, this spoke volumes of how much of a threat Spikulus was to them; from a mere slave to a deadly warlord. Ikit had to keep an eye on him.

"Can we move-move on? I have things-things to do," a runt of a Skaven interrupted as Ikit was about to argue back with Spikulus. This was Skweel Gnawtooth, the Packmaster of Clan Moulder, renowned for his ability to tame any mutated beasts spawned from the Hell Pit laboratory. The other leaders, however, didn't understand why Clan Moulder, one of the four Great Clans, would send this runt here instead of the infamous Throt the Unclean, the true genuine of Moulder. Was Moulder planning to sabotage them? Did they not commit to this mission? Was Skweel had anything to do with this? Was Moulder plotting something back home that needed Throt?

"Fine-fine, let's start," Ikit ordered. He would get to the bottom of these issues at a later date, as with all the issue he was having. Being the leader was fun until you realized there were assassins sent your way almost daily. "Scribe-Slave, come-come forward."

Stepping out of the shadow was a small Skaven, around the same size as Skweel, with circular glasses and dressing in worn-out robe and a purple scarf.

"Yes-yes, Great Chief Warlock Engineer," the scribe, Sneek Scratchett, asked with his head low.

"Write-record everything in this meeting. It will be gift-given to the Council," Ikit ordered.

"Wait-wait!" Another interruption, Ikit had to suppress a sigh. "This meeting must be private-secret! No-no enemies should hear-know!" The others eyed the only horned sorcerer ratmen, a Grey Seer, in the room.

"And why shouldn't we tell-tell the Council of this meeting, Grey Seer Thanquol? Perhaps you are planning to betray the Council?" Another black-furred ratman, this one clad in stained steel (pun intended) armor and helmet that was gleam enough to reflect the candles' light, accused. "Failure, after failure, you are either stupid-incompetent or try-try to kill everyrat."

"You dare-dare insult me, Vaskol!" Thanquol screeched, but others just looked at him accusingly. It was no secret that Grey Seer Thanquol had a long list of failed missions to his name; he could jeopardize this mission as well. The Grey Seer continued to defy their collective glares. "Clan Mange wouldn't survive to this-this day if it weren't-weren't for us Grey Seer!"

"Enough!" Ikit yelled and slammed the end of his Storm Daemon halberd onto the floor. "We're waste-waste time! Let start! The Scribe-Slave will record this meeting unless you want-want to talk-explain to the Council why they don't know about this-this meeting, Grey Seer," the grey-furred Skaven threatened.

Thanquol clenched his musk gland. The prospect of being ousted to the Council was enough to make him silent.

"Good-good, now first things first." Ikit turned to the most unimpressive Skaven in the room, a dark brown fur ratmen with a simple tunic and a spyglass strapped to his belt. "Warlord-Captain Skiv the Saltmaster. What do you find-find?"

"Of course, great-great Ikit Claw," Skiv bowed silight and laid a large map on the large table; a map of Clover Kingdoms. Several 'X' marks were drawn on the map, signifying the others of their important.

As Skiv began explaining, Ikit looked at the rest of the Council. He was half-listening, but the Scribe would catch anything he had missed. In truth, he wasn't concerned much about informing the Council as just to have an excuse to observe the others while remaining informed.

So far in this meeting, four members didn't argue with him yet.

Tretch Craventail, the dark-brown fur Grand Chieftain of the Deep Warrens of Clan Rictus. Tretch was famous for his ridiculously good luck and that Skullhelm he wore even now. Rictus and Mors, Queek's Clan, would be providing this expedition with Clanrats, the rank and files in Skaven warfare, and Stormvermin, the elite troop of the Skavendom. Their rivalry would keep their claws at each other's throat, and not on Ikit's back. Clan Mange, Vaskol's Clan, would also be presenting this operation with their warriors, but they would be utilized differently; they had a certain sought after quality.

Moving on, Ikit laid his eyes on none other than one of the most notorious Plaguelords in all of the Under-Empire, Lord Skrolk. The plague-ridden rat dressed in torn and ragged sickly pus green rope. His eyes were no longer there, clawed out by Skrolk himself according to the legend, and only the empty sockets remained. While silent so far, Ikit knew Skrolk was the biggest threat he would have to deal with. Skrolk belonged to Clan Pestilens, the largest of four Great Clans, and the most zealous. It was so vast to the point that the Council had to forbid any Thrall Clans to come on this mission due to the fact that Pestilens possessed the largest number of Thrall Clans. But Pestilens was not the only Great Clan he was worried about.

Ikit's eyes subtly shifted to the empty seats, belonging to Clan Eshin most prominent member in this expedition, Deathmaster Snikch. Ikit had only caught glimpses of the Chief Assassin, but never his full form. No doubt though that Snikch could kill most of the ratmen in this room without a problem. The Deathmaster, however, was but an instrument, not the player. If Deathmaster ever acted, someone in this room had to be involved, and Ikit feared that Skrolk would be that someone. Clan Skyre was not ready for an all-out war with two Great Clans at once.

The grey-furred Warlock then gazed at the two remaining Warlords who were not of much importance. Gachak the Lucky-Drawer, a slightly obese black fur Warlord in a lavish robe (likely of Dwarf-thing origin) from Clan Grutnik, a Clan famous for their Warpstone production. They were invited to this campaign due to their expertise in planting, growing, and harvesting Warpstone, a necessary component in every aspect of Skaven's existence.

The last noteworthy Skaven in the room was Tyklich Dwarf-Burner from Clan Volkn. This one covered himself entirely in dark red cloak, only allowed his glowing red-eyes to be seen. Despite Clan Volkn friendship with his Clan, Clan Skyre, due to the constant supply of Warpfire Thrower they purchased, Ikit wasn't sure if he could count on the Warlord to back him up if the need became arise. Clan Volkn were pyromaniac and if given a chance they would burn anything and everything to ashe, including themselves and their allies. Still, their underground fighting skills were second to none and they could operate in a condition harsher than most Skaven could withstand.

"So what is the next step, Lord Ikit?" Skiv asked, bring Ikit back to reality. While he was barely listening, the Warlock Engineer knew precisely how to answer that question.

"For now, we expand-expand the tunnel network and establish-built warrens at important locations. Let all Clans settle down first-first," the Chief Warlock Engineer ordered. "Scribe-slave, sent this message to the Eshin as well."

"Yes-yes, great one," Sneek obeyed and wrote something down on his paper.

"If I may suggest, Lord Ikit," Skiv suddenly spoke up again.

Ikit narrowed his eyes, trying to determine what courage or stupidity compelled the Warlord to go against his wish just a mere moment after it was issued. Skiv was from Clan Sleekit, a very small Sea Clan with little territories and a small Clanfleet in comparison to other Sea Clans. Clan Sleekit, however, was renowned for its skill in logistics, navigation, sailing, and exploration, which were an essential part in this operation. So were they now trying to use that fact to push their own agenda? [1]

"Speak-speak then," Ikit permitted. He would hear them first, then judged if Skiv would be filled with Ratling Gun bullets or not.

"In this world, we do not-not exist." Just the very first sentence and confusion had already spread throughout the Council.

"Are you mad-mad? We have-have enough mad-thing with Queek," Tretch insulted. Ikit could hear the Headtaker growled.

"Explain better, Skiv," Ikit demanded.

"In this world, we are not known to man-thing, or even dwarf-thing and elf-thing if they exist-exist. We don't need to sneak-hide from them, we can blend-blend in and strike-kill when the time come-come," Skiv finished.

"Very-very risky, this plan of your," Thanquol pointed out. "But it might-might work." In truth, the Grey Seer didn't believe this idea in the slightest, but it could serve to weaken or even get rid of one or two Clans here, which would leave a vacuum of power for him and his Clan to fill in.

"Then-then let me be the one to test this out," Vaskol suddenly offered. This display of brevery earned him the ire from some of the Warlords, but none spoke up.

"How-how will you help?" Ikit asked.

"War is business-money, even here, no-no?" Vaskol turned to Skiv, who nodded. "Then me-me and the best of Clan Mange will offer-fight for man-thing and observe-see if they will fall for our trick-scheme."

Ikit started to believe Tretch's word a little, perhaps he was indeed surrounded by mad-things that wanted to die in one way or another. No other member on the council spoke up, however, meaning that they all agreed, or at least didn't bother to stop Vaskol to go on a suicide mission. Ikit, in contrast, liked to give things the benefit of the doubt.

"Fine-fine, you may try," the Warlock agreed. Vaskol bowed his head and showed his neck, a sigh of obedient. "But-but," Vaskol looked up. "Skiv and the chosen of his Clan will go-go as well, he did suggest-present the idea after all."

Vaskol's face twisted in anger a little. Ah, so he was hoping to curry some favor by doing this then. Skiv tagging along would do nothing but hinder that goal.

The Captain-Warlord, on the other hand, looked a little panic. He seemed like he wasn't expecting to be put in the frontline. But he could not deny a direct order either.

"V-very well, great-great Ikit Claw," Skiv affirmed in defeated and glared at Vaskol. The two would be at each other's throat now. Good.

With that, the first meeting of the Skaven had concluded, but the scheming and planning were far from over.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, this chapter is more of a set up for Skaven rather than on Asta. Some OCs minor warlords here and there, but Warhammer is always about OCs.**

[1] A little made-up name since there is no classification for Clan that specializes in navy combat, like Clan Skurvy or Clan Skuttle.


End file.
